RUNWAY: Raf Simons SS18

It was an East-meets-West, new-meets-old kind of evening at Raf Simons' second outing in New York. It was staged under the Manhattan Bridge in Chinatown with strong whiffs of fresh fish and one of its chief inspirations: Blade Runner. There were also healthy doses from Raf's archive, mostly seen on the musically inclined shirts while models, called replicants - a term in the movie/book that referred to androids - strolled down the wet makeshift runway carrying umbrellas, some with Chinese lanterns affixed to them. In the end, though the collection felt directional, it didn't seem to have the emotional impact that one expects from Simons.